Legend of Korra: Warlord
by LordFail
Summary: Au. Amon succeeds in defeating The Avatar and conquering Republic City, now Korra who has been stripped of her bending must find a way to free herself from prison, regain her powers and stop Amon once for all.
1. Chapter 1 (The Warlord)

**Author's Notes:** Just a little idea that I had, let's see how it goes

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Legend of Korra: Warlord

Book 1: Soul

Chapter 1: The Warlord

The pain is immense, though not unfamiliar as I remember back to when Tarrlok used this pain to subdue and knock me out but this…this is on a whole other level, it feels as if my body is going to tear itself apart from the inside out.

"NO!" I instinctively shouted as I felt a malevolent hand grab the back of my neck harshly, I recalled Mako shouting something but it faded into the background as I felt a pressure on my forehead and then nothing.

I awoke with the right side of my head throbbing in pain, it seems that in my sleep I slid into the side of the truck that I was in the back of. I attempted to rub it out of instinct, but found it impossible with my hands bound behind my back, I instinctively tried to bend but found the effort pointless as the memories of what happened flowed back into my mind.

I couldn't bend anymore…no matter how hard I tried, no matter what I did I couldn't even muster up a measly ember or drop of water…not a damn thing. That's when I remembered this feeling, or rather lack of feeling, it was hard to explain in words but it felt as if something inside of me was just…ripped out, gone, like a part of me just up and vanished. It wasn't only my connection to the elements but everything that made me the Avatar, it was all gone…It was hard to even explain to myself but I just knew it.

My power, my connection, all of it gone…thanks to _him._

At that moment the truck doors opened to reveal two men in equalist uniforms, no doubt here to take me to whatever prison I was supposed to rot in.

"Rise and shine Avatar!" The shorter of the two teased mockingly as he forcefully grabbed me and dragged me out, not even bothering to do anything as I fell out and slammed unceremoniously onto the cold dirt.

"Just sad to look at isn't it Choi, the great Avatar can't even stand on her own without her precious bending" The short one mocked as the taller and lankier one chuckled dumbly along.

"Sad is right Chow!" Choi joked along Chow took his baton and wacked it upside Choi's head. "OW what was that fer?" Choi groaned out.

"That's for slacking off, you're supposed to be dragging her to her new home" Chow chided as Choi sighed and picked me up.

"Why do I always have ta carry the prisoners? They're always so heavy" if only I had my bending, he'd REALLY pay for that.

"Because that's all your good for, now come on we got a job to do" Chow ordered as I was now being led into the complex. I was still somewhat out of it as I was led in but I caught a glimpse of what looked to be a mountain range…makes sense, I'm probably somewhere far from civilization. After a few minutes of being dragged along we came to a stop.

"Got a special delivery, curtesy of the big man himself" Chow relayed as another voice droned on.

"About time you idiots showed up…take her to C block, she gets the one next to the VIP"

"Understood sir" Chow stated respectfully as we started moving again.

"The VIP huh? Lucky her" Chow whispered with a laugh.

"Uhhh RIP?" Choi stated simply.

"No idiot, V I P, you know THAT guy?" Chow explained as Choi kept a blank expression on his face.

"Seriously your stupidity knows no bounds…the guy who killed thousands, you know the warlord, for the love of…THE BEASTMAN YOU MORON" Chow emphasized.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHH I GOT IT…wait…no I lost it" Choi concluded as Chow sighed profusely.

"I swear man I don't even know how you dress yourself in the morning and NO I don't actually want to know how" Chow added as Choi seemed to want to say something but then kept quiet. Thankfully this painful banter ended as they let me go with a rough shove and I found enough strength to balance myself as I heard the door slam shut behind me.

"Hope you enjoy the accommodations Avatar, because this is where you're gonna be staying for the rest of your pitiful life" Chow hammered in with glee as he gave a hearty laugh and left. Out of sheer frustration I heaved my right foot out at the door, the kick didn't even so much as shake the door but I did accomplish losing my balance and falling on my ass so…that's something I guess.

Looking around I could see that they definitely didn't hold back on the whole dank, dark prison of hopelessness vibe as I laid in a small dirty cell with a dirty bedroll and a toilet that only the purest of fire could clean at this point. Looking around at the other cells around me I noted that all the other cells were as dirty and depressing as mine, though were quite empty with the exception of the cell to my left that held a lone figure with his back to the wall.

He had extremely long and unkempt dark silver hair that looked to reach his lower back and a long beard of the same color that looked have been let loose upon the world with reckless abandon long ago. The man's frame looked thin and looked to be suffering from minor malnutrition, though there still seemed to be a long diminished but still existent strength left on his bones. The most distinguishing feature by far was the man's piercing yellow eyes that upon closer inspection were quite dull, that combined with a perpetual distant look made him seem like a man who had long given up and accepted his lot in life. All in all a rather sad disposition that made me feel rather sorry for him…although something that idiot guard mentioned bothered me.

He referred to him as the warlord, the beastman and the killer of thousands…that last one is more than a bit concerning. Thinking back and silently cursing myself for not bothering to listen some more of Tenzin's history lessons.

Look they were boring ok?

Well from what I do remember the warlord was apparently the name given to the guy who led the beast tribe army about 20 or so years ago when they declared war on all the nations. The war ended shortly after Aang stepped in and defeated the warlord in a one on one fight, no one knew where the warlord went after that…until now apparently. It was hard to believe that this frail looking man was ever a warrior capable of battling Aang and apparently surviving…I couldn't hold back any longer as I decided to talk to this warlord guy as tactfully as I possibly could be.

"So...you're the warlord huh? Thought you'd be…you know taller"

Nailed it.

The figure didn't so much as acknowledge me as he just continued to look distantly at the wall.

"Ok not much of a talker, fine whatever I get it, it's cool" I worded as diplomatically as I could as he continued to ignore me.

"Soooooo…yeah that's uh…that's a really interesting…wall your staring at, really…inspiring" I mumbled awkwardly as he still ignored me, which was starting to annoy me.

"You know it's not like I'm trying to have a conversation here or anything" I jabbed sarcastically as my last hopes of keeping my cool faded away as he ignored me AGAIN.

"Ok you know what? Fine just sit there and rot for all I care! Last time I try to…you know why am I even bothering talking to you?" I questioned bitterly as I diverted my attention away from him and decided to try and spend some time meditating…it was boring but it's not like I'm doing much else right now, plus anything I can do to try and connect with my past lives or hell just any of my bending arts would be worth any amount of meditating.

A few hours passed with no progress, meditating did nothing but make me even angrier that I couldn't even do sitting still and not thinking right…could also have something to do with having my arms restrained behind my back in quite possibly the most uncomfortable angle possible…maybe.

The sounds of footsteps drew me away from my failures as an equalist guard came by with a tray of food consisting of what looked to be a stale piece of bread, a cup of water and a bowl of no doubt watery soup.

"Meal time scum" The guard vocalized with distaste as he slid the tray under the bars roughly and walked by my cell.

"As for you Avatar, Amon wants you weak…well weaker, so no food for you" He informed with a sadistic laugh as he walked back down the hall from where he came.

"Yeah ok, not a problem…I don't need your stinkin food!" I shouted defiantly…only for my stomach to make the greatest of all betrayals by growling loudly to which I could only sigh and hang my head. The sound of metal scrapping on stone echoed throughout the hall for a short time before it stopped shortly after, when I looked around I was surprised to find a tray with a stale piece of bread, a cup of water and a bowl of watery soup in my cell. I just sat there unmoving in surprise for a few moments before speaking.

"I…really don't need your pity, I'll be fi-"

"Eat" The bassy and commanding baritone of his voice caught me off guard as I also just realized he was actually looking at me directly for the first time with piercing yellow eyes that only seemed to add to his strangely commanding presence, just looking at him compelled me to do what he says…all things considered perhaps it's not too crazy to believe that this guy might've been a commander or warlord at some point in his life.

"Ok…soup is hard to eat with no hands last time I checked" I pointed out as I attempted to move my arms from behind my back for emphasis. He just raised an eyebrow at me before wordlessly taking the tray back to his side with a hand which I noted looked relatively human with the exception of the nails which took on a more claw like form. He then filled a wooden spoon with soup and carefully angling it through the bars between our cells and held it there.

"…you gotta be kidding me" I deadpanned as he just stared at me.

"You wanna eat or not?" He asked in a low baritone, I was about to retort when once again my stomach was proving to be my own worst enemy.

"...you're a traitor you know that?" I mumbled at my stomach as I sighed and walked my way toward the bars and sat so that I was leaning my left side on said bars and cautiously took the bowl of the spoon into my mouth and swallowed the contents. The soup was by far one of the worst things I ever had the displeasure of eating…but considering that I couldn't even remember the last time I even had a scrap of food I'd live with it.

"Ugh how do you make watery nothingness taste like a sewer anyway?" I bitterly asked no one as the man shrugged.

"File a complaint to the chef, I'm sure he'd love feedback" He suggested as another spoonful of liquid dumpster made its way into my cell.

"Oh you got jokes now? Well isn't that nice" I shot back sarcastically as I accepted the disturbingly satisfying gruel.

"I guess…so the Avatar huh?" He asked as we continued the process of talking while he fed me in a way that quite frankly I hope no one ever sees EVER.

"…Maybe, maybe not…I'm not even sure anymore" I answered more honestly than I expected to.

"Oh? I'd assume that sort of thing would be pretty apparent" He pointed out as I got slightly annoyed.

"Well I am, except I can't bend any elements, connect with my past lives, do anything remotely spiritual or you know anything that makes the Avatar the Avatar…but you know other than that yeah I'm the Avatar" I vented momentarily as I tried to keep myself composed.

"Ah well that's a bit…inconvenient" He noted as I glared at him.

"No forgetting your coat when you go out and having it rain suddenly is 'inconvenient'…me having my bending abilities ripped away from me by a madman looking to take over the world all the while I'm just confined helplessly in this rat hole of a cell ON TOP OF NOT KNOWING WHERE ANY OF MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE OR WHETHER THEIR EVEN ALIVE OR NOT IS A NIGHTMARE!" I vented with increasing volume as I utterly failed to keep my composure. In an attempt to stop myself from going any further I quickly ate some more soup only for it to make me gag.

"UGH I…I think there was a bug in that one!" I cried out as I attempted to stop coughing.

"Oh you got a prize then? Lucky you, those are a good source of protein" He joked as I gave him a look that I hoped would set him on fire.

"…I hate you"

"Yeah you and everyone else…but do you hate me enough to not want water?" He asked as he held the cup in his hand.

"I'm getting there" I mumbled a little less seriously as he maneuvered the cup and managed to be able to get it to my side as I took a drink from it, the water definitely wasn't fresh but it tasted sweet nonetheless due to not having a drink in a while.

"Well here comes the best part" He announced as he took the piece of bread and tore off a piece…although last time I check breaking bread shouldn't sound like a brick being snapped in half.

"Uhhh…I think I'm good" I refused as he just shrugged and popped the bread into his mouth and chewed, noting that it sounded as if he was eating rocks.

"How are you even eating that?" I asked genuinely curious as just hearing him chew was making my teeth hurt.

"It's not like theres much else on the menu…plus after twenty years you get used to it" He answered as I absorbed the information. I haven't even been here for a day and I'm already at the end of my rope…but he's been here for so long, I can't even imagine such an existence. He took the tray and put it by the door, makes sense since it probably wouldn't be a good idea for them to know that he fed me.

"Hey so…you mind if I ask you something?" I asked as he laid down and leaned his back on the wall opposite of his door.

"Depends on what you're asking"

"Well…Why haven't you tried to escape yet?" I questioned

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you seem like the kind of person that could escape from a place like this pretty easy…so why are you still here?" I specified as the question seemed to drain the emotion out of his face.

"That…doesn't matter anymore" He dismissed quickly as he turned his back to me.

"…ok well can I at least get your real name?" I asked as I got silence in response.

"Oh and now you go back to ignoring me…great, fine whatever I'll just sit here and ignore you…see how you like it" I spat out rather childishly as I turned away from him. I'm honestly not even sure why it bothers me that much when he ignores me, could be the stress of everything just piling on…who knows I guess it doesn't really matter all that much in end. I resigned myself to trying to get some sleep as I adjust myself into an awkward but serviceable position and drifted off to sleep.

I'm not sure what time I awoke as it's hard to tell what time it is in here, but after a few moments of echoing footsteps from down the hall I sat up and shook my head in an attempt to wake myself up. That didn't work, but what did was a familiar voice that sent chills down my spine every time I heard it.

"Good morning Korra" the ever familiar voice of Amon greeted as I immediately snapped out of my haze and stared straight at that mask.

"You…what do you want?" I asked bitterly as just gave a light casual chuckle that only served to enrage me.

"Do not worry, my visit is going to be quite brief…the coming days will be quite busy after all if we are to achieve our noble goal of peace and equality, but I wouldn't dream of leaving without saying farewell" Amon stated as he reveled in rubbing his victory in my face, I did nothing but glare defiantly at him.

"I also wanted you know the reason why I haven't decided to dispose of you just yet…tell me would you like to know?" He asking in a mocking tone as I continued to glare.

"I want you to stick around to see the fully realized era of peace and prosperity that will transpire once the benders of this world are disposed of…I want you to realize how truly useless and outdated you are, but most of all…I want you to fully understand that no matter how hard you try to resist the inevitable that at the end of the day…your just a weak little girl, propped up by power that was just as easily taken away as everyone else's" I couldn't listen to anymore of his gloating.

"This isn't over…I swear I'll defeat you!" I shouted with as much confidence as I could muster.

"No…no you won't, just accept that your powerless to change anything now…it'll be good for you in the long run, now if you'll excuse me…I have to prepare for my visit to the earth kingdom" He taunted at me with a shake of his head as he started to walk off.

"Oh and one more thing, since the is not much you can do about it anyway…I suppose I'll let you know that your friends Bolin and Asami slipped away after their failure, unfortunate but ultimately inconsequential"

"And Mako?" I asked quickly

"…he'll break soon enough" Amon stated as he left down the hall. I'm not sure how long I spent kicking at the door in frustration but after my legs started to hurt I just resigned myself to just lying on the ground, mind blank to nothing but grief.

As I sat there for the last hour or so and stared at the broken and grief stricken girl that was the Avatar, I couldn't help but empathize with her. Her tragic and defeated demeanor forced me to recall events from long ago that I had attempted to erase from my mind…events that had broken me in much of the same way that it has broken her. No…broken isn't exactly accurate here, I can tell she still has some fight left in her yet.

I pondered more on this as the guard who delivers my food came and did just that before he stopped in front of her cell.

"What's the matter Avatar? Can't take having your precious Avatar powers taken away?" He asked mockingly as she barely acknowledged his existence.

"Well come on now theres no need to feel bad" The guard soothed with fake sympathy as he reached to open the cell. As I pieced together what was about to transpire I felt something bubble its way up from deep within, something that I hadn't felt in almost twenty years.

Determination.

"It's alright Avatar…I'll replace those bad feelings with something real nice" He promised with a twinge of lust in his eyes as he took a step forward only to have a foot launch out at his chest, unfortunately the kick was little more than a wild strike as he easily parried it away.

"St-Stay back!" She shouted angrily as the guard only seemed to be more determined than before.

"Oh so you like it rough huh? Good…I do too" He stated with hunger laced words as he brought the metal electric prod in his hand onto her leg, causing her to wince out in pain as she backed up toward the wall to attempt to defend herself.

As I watched this unfold before me many different memories, thoughts and voices rang through my head in a chaotic whirlwind. Just before it started to become too much it all seemed to dissipate and one clear, familiar voice echoed in my mind.

" _It's ok…let go and move forward"_ The familiar phrase elicited a wave of mixed emotions to wash over my very being, but as chaotic and confusing as it all was…It also made me feel like my purpose was more apparent than it ever had been in my entire life, it filled me with the clearest of determinations to do the one thing that up to this point I had never dreamed of doing for over twenty years.

To move forward

"I see…your right as always" I mumbled to myself as I reached behind my right ear and pulled out the little piece of metal that I had fashioned into a pick long ago and calmly rose to my feet, I walked my way to the cell door as I unlocked the door in one smooth motion. I slid the door open and wordlessly walked over to her cell and stood in the doorway, the guard sensing something behind him turned around.

"Wh-what the? What are you doing out of your cell monster?" He asked fearfully as he attempted to bring the metal electric prod in his right hand down on my head. I easily gripped his wrist midswing with my left hand and with a squeeze snapped the bones in said wrist, causing him to drop the prod, before he could scream out in pain I took my right hand and gripped his throat tightly so only a pathetic squeak came out of his mouth.

"I've grown quite tired of this place and quite tired of you…lets fix that" I threatened with a low rumbling growl as I took my thumb and with the claw like form of my nail pierced his throat and tore it open to summon a torrent of blood that quickly rushed out from the wound to stain the ground below. I felt nothing as I watched the life drain from his eyes as he tried in vain to beg for mercy and after a few moments it was over as I simply released his throat and let him collapse onto the ground like a ragdoll.

I looked to the girl before me who was staring at me in a mixture of confusion and fear as I stepped closer to her. She turned her head away and closed her eyes unmoving, not wanting to waste any time and simply moved behind her and gripped the chains that restrained her arms behind her back and in one swift motion broke them. After a few moments of silence she finally opened her eyes and brought her hands forward and looked at them in a bout of confusion before staring up at me.

"You alright?"

"Y-Yeah" She answered as she worked to gain her composure.

"Jarek"

"…what?" she asked

"Earlier you asked me what my name was…its Jarek"


	2. Chapter 2 (Cliffs and Valleys)

**Author's Note:** Only 70% of this chapter was written while drinking scotch…probably.

Legend of Korra: Warlord

Book 1: Soul

Chapter 2: Cliffs and Valleys

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"Earlier you asked me what my name was…its Jarek" He stated as he held his hand out for me to grab. There was a lot for me to process at the same time, first of all from just staring into his eyes it's hard to believe that this was the same shell of a man that a had talked to previously, I mean beforehand his eyes were seemingly dull and lifeless, but now there seemed to be a fiery determination in them. The second thing was just how intimidating he was, it wasn't in the stature so much despite the fact that he was indeed quite tall, it was more in the aura and force of will he exuded that outright commanded respect. The last thing was the horrifying display of death I had just witnessed, I mean I've given more people than I can remember a good beating but I've never done or seen anything that visceral or brutal in my life.

"Korra" I stated back as I took a moment to think of my next move.

"Well Korra I'd hate to be pushy but if we're pulling off a jailbreak then I'm gonna need you to get up" He requested as he held out his hand for me to grab, it was hard to really say why I felt this way or what brought me to this conclusion but for some reason beyond my understanding…I felt as if I could trust this man with my life. I confirmed that feeling with myself by grabbing his hand and letting him help me to my feet.

"Alright we don't have much time so we're gonna have to be quick and quiet about this…I think I can lead us out of here but we're going to need to work together in order to escape from here, agreed?" He asked me as he searched the body of the dead guard, finding a knife in which he hid in his torn clothes and grasping the prod to wield.

"Yeah I agree" I answered since I really didn't have much of a choice at this point. He nodded and motioned for me to follow as he stealthily stepped his way down the hall as I tried my best to follow just as quietly. After a few twists and turns he stopped at a corner as I hugged the wall behind him.

"Got a guard around the corner…let me handle it" He whispered as he peered around the corner and in one smooth motion maneuvered around the corner. Before I could even see what happened he came back to where he was with one rather familiar short guard in a very tight hold.

"Hi there friend, I'm gonna ask you a question and you're going to give me an answer…if I like the answer then you don't die this day but if I don't…well you like the idea of not having your eyes gouged out and your head matter forcibly squeezed from your eyeholes until nothing remains right?" Jarek asked the muted guard as said guard nodded fearfully.

"Good now…give me the directions to the way out as quickly as in as few words as possible…oh and don't be too loud, I'm NOT a fan of loud noises understand" Jarek threatened as the guard once again nodded as Jarek removed his hand from the guards mouth.

"Take a right, then a left, head straight down the hall until you get to these huge double doors can't miss it" The guard bumbled out quickly as Jarek eyed him intently before nodding.

"Alright I believe you…I'm going to shock you with this stick now" Jarek said casually as he lifted the prod up and activated it, a hum of energy resounding from the instrument.

"Uhhh can't I just promise to faint like a dainty woman instead?" The guard pleaded as Jarek seemed to think about it for a moment.

"Hmmm…no" Jarek decided as he tapped the prod on the guards head, causing him to lose consciousness and crumple to the ground.

"That was…something" I whispered as he shrugged.

"Well at least we know the way ou-"

"Hey…aren't you supposed to be inside the jail cell?" A voice I recognized questioned as it was the other guard that dragged me to my cell…oh yes I remember him.

"Don't worry he's mine" I declared to Jarek who raised an eyebrow but otherwise made no moves as I quickly rushed the dim witted guard and delivered a powerful kick to the right side of his head, causing him to collide headfirst into the wall, instantly knocking him out.

"Yeah! Who's heavy now huh?" I vented at the unconscious guard as Jarek just stared at me in confusion. "…what? He deserved it"

"I'm…sure he did, though I don't think he needed more brain damage" Jarek whispered as he just decided to leave it at that and take the backpack that the now even more brain damaged guard had on him. "Right well we need to keep moving come on" He muttered as we continued our way down the halls with the directions we were given, although the complex turned out to be a bit more elaborate than we expected.

"The guy you zapped made this sound so easy" I muttered as we took a moment to catch our breath.

"No kidding" He whispered as the sound of voices echoing down the hall grew louder.

"Search everywhere, find them!" one of them bellowed which was followed by the sounds of heavy footsteps.

"Well looks like they figured out our well thought out escape plan, never would've seen that coming" Jarek voiced sarcastically.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're trying to imply something?" I asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Now whatever could you mean by that?" Jarek asked innocently to which I gave him an incredulous look.

"Hey it's not my fault you killed that guy like that…which by the way was horrifying"

"Oh and you've never killed anyone miss avatar?"

"NO...well probably not…look that's not my point"

"Oh? And what point of contention could you possibly have as we are in the middle of an unplanned jailbreak about to be swarmed by guards…speaking of which" Jarek interrupted himself midsentence as he swerved around to meet the guard that was attempting to sneak up behind the arguing duo and quickly slammed his head into the wall with a sickening crunch. At that moment half a dozen guards rounded the corner and prepared to face us.

"Wow I didn't even notice him" I remarked as I mentally hit myself for not being more aware.

"Yeah it's almost like having an argument in the middle of a jailbreak is a dumb idea…so uh want to call it a draw and beat these guys up?" Jarek asked as he got into a fighting stance unfamiliar to me as I nodded.

"Sounds good to me" I agreed as the guards charged us. Jarek entered the fray first as he dodged a truncheon strike and countered with an elbow to the face followed by a forceful kick to the chest which sent the guard reeling back into another guard as they got tangled on the floor.

One attempted to strike at my chest with a shock prod but I quickly countered and used my superior agility to maneuver around him and land a series of quick strikes ending with a strong punch to the jaw that sent him to the floor.

Jarek engaged two more guards in melee as he immediately went on the offense and delivered a punch to one guard's stomach followed by a head butt that brought the guard to his knees and had him seeing stars. Before he could be finished off however Jarek felt a truncheon land a blow on his side.

"That all you got?" Jarek taunted as he swiftly faced his second opponent, disarmed him and rocked the guard with a blow to the left side of his head with the guards own weapon, sending him to the ground unmoving. The guard reeling from the head butt attempted to stand back up but was quickly brought back down to the ground with a blow to the head from Jarek that caused a loud crack to echo down the hallway.

The last guard that had yet to engage us seemed to be weighing his options, after a moment he decided against a two on one battle and bolted down the hallway, unfortunately for him Jarek is not the merciful type and he took the truncheon in his hand and sent it flying down the hall straight into the back of the retreating guards head, causing him to sprawl unceremoniously onto the floor.

"Damn I'm a bit rustier at this than I thought" Jarek mumbled as he clutched his no doubt bruised side.

"Are you alright?" I asked in concern as I stepped closer.

"Eh I've taken much worse I'll be fin-Look out!" He suddenly shouted as before I could even process anything he suddenly thrust his fist out forward and a ball of blue energy shot out and flew just past the right side of my head and impacted something behind me. When I turned around I saw a guard slide down from the wall and crumple on the ground.

"Wh-What was that?" I asked in genuine confusion, he looked like he was about to answer but the sounds of more heavy footsteps started to fill the hallway again.

"No time escape first" He quickly responded before running down the hall.

"Fine whatever escape first then ask weird prison guy questions" I whispered to myself as I followed him down the hall. It didn't really take us too long to find the exit this time around as we rounded a corner and found ourselves in front of a pair of large doors which we immediately kicked open to reveal an open courtyard area that was overlooking the mountainous forested terrain glowing in the dusk light below, This would've been a good thing had it also not been for the dozens of fully equipped guards that were waiting for us as well.

"Uhh maybe we shouldn't have just kicked open the door without thinking" I pointed out as I tried to figure out how we were going to get through them all.

"No time for that now, this way" Jarek ordered as he veered off to the right with me following close behind. It didn't really seem to help as we just found our way to a ledge that looked to be a good three hundred foot drop into trees and a river, at this point we were most certainly surrounded with no place left to run.

"Ok anymore bright ideas?" I asked Jarek as he was scanning his surroundings rather calmly.

"Not really no" He stated simply.

"Well well this was most certainly not expected" Voiced a man that looked to be in his early fifties as the other guards parted ways to let him pass. "Well from the Avatar this was no surprise at all but you Jarek…I'm quite surprised, what happened to the sad, broken, docile filth that I knew?" He asked mockingly as he continued to speak.

"Korra do you trust me?" Jarek asked me as I gave him a look of confusion.

"Is…that really a question that you, the guy I just met in prison are asking me?" I questioned back.

"Well…yeah" He answered simply as I just stared at him incredulously. "Ok now that I think about it I kinda see your point actually"

"Are you two quite done?" the older man loudly asked in annoyance as Jarek lazily turned to address him.

"Hmm you say something?" Jarek asked.

"Yes I…have you even been listening?!" The man asked.

"No, should I have been?"

"I would like to think so considering that my men and I have you surrounded and outmatched" The man that I now put together is probably the warden pointed out.

"And you think I care because…?" Jarek asked as I wondered if he was being serious or if he was just messing with the warden, I honestly couldn't tell.

"I…you…wha…just get them and put them in the special cells already" The warden ordered his men with a sigh as they approached.

"Ok Korra I'm gonna need an answer from you now" Jarek asked me as I stared at him once again. It's hard to place where this instinct was coming from; I'm not even sure if I'm thinking straight at this point, but when I stared at Jarek something within me told me that I could trust this man without question.

"Yeah…I trust you" I answered sincerely as he looked at me and gave a soft smile.

"Ok…then off the cliff we go"

"…Wait wh-" I didn't have time to finish as I found myself being grabbed tightly and before I knew it I was falling downward, I hate my instincts sometimes.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" I shouted as the last thing I remember was the sudden sensation of being submerged in cold water before falling unconscious.

I woke up with a bit of a headache but otherwise relatively intact…and considering that the memory of being flung off of a cliff by a guy I just met in prison just came back to me; I was just honestly surprised that I ONLY had a headache.

As I started to fully come to I scanned my surroundings, I was laying on a couple of blankets that were made into a makeshift bed of sorts, it looked to be the middle of the night as the only source of light in this campsite was a fire where I could smell cooked fish. A lone figure was sitting next to the fire cooking said fish that I recognized as Jarek who looked a bit different.

For instance the long beard was all but gone revealing a strong jaw line, his dark silvery hair which before was down to his back and messy was now just touching his shoulders and looked a bit neater, the worn prison clothes he had been wearing before have been replaced with earth kingdom style clothing that weren't the best fit but worked nonetheless. All in all I had definitely misjudged his age as he looked much younger than I had originally thought he was.

There was a lot on my mind at the moment and there was only one way I could think of to express it, so I threw a rock at Jareks head.

"Oh I see your awake, fish?" He offered without so much as acknowledging the projectile that had just bounced off his head, which really only made me angrier for some reason.

"NO!" I shouted as gave me a surprised look.

"A girl from the water tribe who doesn't like fish? That's a new one"

"Wha-No I like fish!" I corrected

"Then have some, I'm sure you're hungry" He offered again

"I don't…I'm not…I" I was finding it very hard to form words right now.

"So…do you not want fish then?" He asked

"LISTEN YOU…" and once again my stomach proves that it's actively out to get me. "…just give me the damn fish" I mumbled in defeat as I took a seat by the fire and grabbed the meal.

"You could've at least warned me that you were going to throw me off a cliff you know" I chastised as I took a bite of the fish that tasted a lot like how the water tribe cooks them.

"Well technically I threw both of us off a cliff"

"Oh well clearly that makes it all ok then" I stated sarcastically

"I'd like to think so, I mean I threw us off a cliff and now we're not in prison AND we have fish. Frankly I don't see the issue here" He reasoned out as I felt myself start to mentally short circuit.

"…I really wish I could fire bend right now"

"And I really hoped that I could find some sea prunes to make this dinner even better, but you know no sea, no sea prunes" He explained with a shrug.

"Yeah I was gonna ask, where did you learn to cook water tribe style food like this?" I really couldn't get over how much I was being reminded of home right now.

"I…picked it up…so whats next then?" Jarek asked quickly changing the topic.

"What do you mean?" I asked mouth half full of fish.

"Well…I mean you're out of prison now and you're the avatar right? So aren't you supposed to go punch this Amon guy and save the world or something?" Jarek asked as I could feel the overwhelming weight of all the responsibilities I have.

"I…I don't know what to do, I mean yeah I definitely want to go and destroy Amon for everything he's done, but without my bending…what can I really do?"

"Well I mean I think you handled yourself pretty well in there without you're bending" He pointed out

"I…appreciate what you're trying to do, but that's not the point. I mean as the avatar it's my duty to 'use the four elements to bring balance to the world as well as mankind and the spirits' so I can't really do any of that if I don't have my bending"

"Oh is that all?" Jarek asked sarcastically.

"Yeah that's all, no pressure or anything right?" I muttered equally as sarcastic.

"Ok well I guess you know exactly what to do then"

"Oh do I now?"

"Yeah you said it yourself, your avatar and the avatar needs bending…so there's your answer" Jarek explained.

"Well I mean it's not like it's that simple…"

"Isn't it?" Jarek interrupted as I shook my head.

"No it really isn't, I still don't even know if any of my friends are ok and Mako…" I trailed off as I remembered Amon's haunting words.

'… _he'll break soon enough'_

"Look believe me I understand the position you're in right now…but think, you've been stripped of your bending, you have no idea where your friends are and you don't even know the state of the world right now. The best thing you can do right now is take a step back and figure out a plan…but hey I'm just the guy from prison who threw you off a cliff so you know, take my word with a huge grain of salt I guess" Jarek explained with a shrug, as much as I was tempted to throw another rock at his head for reminding me of…THAT incident, he did also have a point. I wanted to do nothing else but run out, find my friends and go kick Amon's teeth in…but I have no idea where they are and without my bending I'm not even sure if I'd be able to even get to Amon himself before getting captured again and that definitely wouldn't help anyone.

"Ok…maybe you have a point, but I don't even know what I'd need to do to get my bending back, I tried mediating which didn't work, I tried healing…but then remembered that I need bending to do that so didn't work and I even tried hitting my head really hard and that REALLY didn't work…so unless you have an answer for me on that one then you might as well throw me back up the cliff do I can throw myself back in jail" I ranted a bit more passionately than I wanted to.

"Well unfortunately I don't know how to give you the kind of head trauma that fixes magic powers…but I might have an idea that could work…probably…maybe…" I gestured for him to get on with it "…anyway, tell me how much do you know about my homeland?" Jarek asked as I attempted to recollect anything from Tenzins history lessons and only came up with memories of falling asleep from boredom.

"Um not much honestly, I know that it's far to the west of the fire nation"

"Ok knowing its general direction is a good start, well I guess to give you the short of it my people don't have the ability to bend elements and only very few of us can do what we call spirit manipulation which is this" Jarek explained as he made an unfamiliar hand gesture and a blue tint of energy formed around a small rock on the ground that lifted off the ground a few feet before Jarek flicked out a finger and the rock went sailing through the air off into the darkness.

"You did that back in the prison" I recollected

"Mmhm, it's a power that lets me use the energy from within me and harness it into a physical form, letting me do all kinds of fun stuff…but it's not as reliable as bending since if I use too much spirit manipulation too quickly then the strain of it can do serious damage to me" Jarek explained further as I tried to wrap my head around the concept.

"Anyway so yeah we can't bend, but there's this place to in the northern marshes of my country that we call the valley of a thousand deaths, named that due to the fact that over a thousand people that we know of have walked in there and never returned…my people are kinda straightforward when it comes to naming things"

"Sounds…inviting" I commented trying to imagine what this place looked like.

"Oh yeah definitely…well it gets weirder, the valley is almost like an entirely different world, the land itself constantly shifts and reforms before your very eyes, the currents in the rivers change direction at will, even the air itself seems to have a mind of its own"

"That all sounds like bending!" I exclaimed as Jarek nodded.

"Yeah that's what I was thinking too…of course when I went there last time I didn't even know what bending was so at the time for all I knew it could've been magic" Jarek said with a shrug.

"So you've been there before?" I asked curiously.

"Once, some idiot from the village I was from went in there and didn't return so his mother asked some of the men to go and find him, me being an even bigger idiot than her son went with a few others to that place…I can't even begin to describe to you the feeling that I had being in that place, the deeper we got the more I could feel…something, something immense. Anyway long story short we didn't find him and we all decided to get out of there before anything happened"

"So…if this place is so dangerous then why do people keep going in there? I mean just why?" I questioned.

"Well that has to do with a legend that basically says that anyone who finds the heart of the valley will be given great power…or something equally vague and ridiculous like that. I personally have never been desperate enough to bank on an old legend for 'power' but many others are"

"So your idea then is to go all the way to your homeland to some marsh where we have to find the 'heart' of some valley that has killed over a thousand people for 'power' that was promised from some old legend, am I understanding that right?" I asked Jarek.

"…Alright when you put it that way my idea does actually sound pretty stupid"

"Well then I guess I'm pretty stupid for actually thinking of going for it" I admitted to a surprised Jarek.

"You're actually considering it?" He asked as I thought about it, I mean this seemed like a huge long shot that had no real guarantee of anything…actually it was just that, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I had NO other options to try, no other tricks, nothing. So as unlikely as it was that this would actually do anything, if it meant that I had a chance of getting the power I need to save my friends then I had no other choice but to try; besides I still had that instinct telling me to trust Jarek…even though he threw me off a cliff, but if you ignore that fact…and the fact that I met him in prison…and EVERYTHING else really, it only seemed like I was having a major lapse in judgment…that's all.

"Yup I mean I have no other options so sure why not go into the valley of certain death?"

"…you're not one to think things through are you?" Jarek asked as I just stared at him unamused.

"You're the one who suggested taking me there in the first place!"

"And you just assume that I was taking you there too? Way to prove my point"

"Wait wh-"

"Well then again I mean I guess I don't have anything better to do, not like I had anything on the agenda after twenty years of imprisonment so…fuck it sure I'll take you there"

"...as soon as I get my bending back I'm lighting you on fire" I deadpanned as he just gave a cheeky smile.

"I wouldn't have it any other way"


End file.
